Problems Faced by Nurses as Healthcare Workers in the COVID- 19 Pandemic

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has led to the pandemic, which can be transmitted through respiratory droplets, contact and aerosols, causing large-scale infections worldwide. Nurses, who are fighting against the epidemic at the forefront, experience great physical and psychological distress. This psychological distress may be predominantly sleeping disturbance, anxiety and depression symptoms, post-traumatic stress, inability to make decisions, and even somatic symptoms. In this review, the problems of nurses, who are among the health professionals most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, are mentioned. It is known that the level of impact of healthcare professionals exceeds psychological and emotional tolerance, and the level of trauma is high. Psychological problems arise among health workers in the face of long work shifts (reaching an average of 16 hours a day), the high risk of contracting a highly contagious disease, and the lack of adequate protection measures. Pandemic brings with it psychological and spiritual problems as well as ethical problems. With the Covid-19 pandemic, the nursing profession and nursing care are on the agenda again on national and international platforms and have become important. When the studies are examined, it is seen that the face of covid 19 reflected on the nurses is mostly psychological. It is important to provide psychological support to nurses during periods of intense work such as pandemics.